Mowing pond banks

[sandman2234]

I mow about 10 acres up at the church, which has a pond on it. The banks at some points are extremely steep, too steep for me to drive on. On the parts I can drive on, I used to mow it with a six foot mower behind a JD2555 but because of the wheel tracks having to be right at the edge of the pond, two wheel drive and not so good of brakes, I often got stuck in the edge of the pond.
I purchased a 15 foot batwing, but only have two remotes, so I built a "T" to allow me to hook both wings up. The wing running along the water edge has the tire over the edge, and isn't doing a great job. Basically I still can't get far enough out to cut everything. Kind of dis-heartening! While the batwing got closer, I thought it would do better.
How do you guys cut around ponds, short of buying a complete offset boom mower?
David from jax

 

[countrybumpkin]

Sickle mower

 

[jcummins]

Use to use sickle mower now batwing. I lift the wing over the water just enough that it's right at the top of the water not in it. The wheels behind the center section at the edge of the pond.

 

[Tigershark]

I mow as close as I can with my bush hog then on the steep parts I have to weedeat it which really stinks

 

[big bubba]

how much are you willing to invest for the job? that would be the 1st question i'd ask myself. if you are in shape for a walk behind, that would be my recomm for dam/bank mowing. 36"-48" would be my choice. imho mowing pond embankments w/a zero turn or small tractor as yours is pretty much a waste of time esp in wet conditions. of course every job & circumstance is different.

Hydro Drive Walk-Behind Mowers - Encore

 

[John Fitzgerald]

My old DR 10.5 HP field and brush mower does a good job on the pond banks. However, I find that my walk behind string trimmer can get closer to the water easier and is much lighter and easier to control.

 

[bcp]

Self-powered mower and a side boom to tow it. (found photos-not me)

Maybe use an old riding mower with a bad transmission as the towed mower.

Bruce

 

[rbtjr]

We have a pond with two areas on the perimeter that are pretty steep banks. One is on the dam, about 300 feet long. I think the slope is either 4 to 1 or 5 to 1. I mow within about two or three feet of the edge of the water with a 61" Wright Sport X zero-turn mower. I really like this mower for this job. I previously used a 66" Exmark zero-turn mower you ride on in a seat. I also had a 61" walk-behind Husqvarna that I used to mow close to the water. As an aside, I bought all of these mowers with lots of width because IMO the extra width helps provide stability on steep banks. A little over a year ago I sold both the Exmark and the Husqvarna and bought the Wright Sport X. It is very versatile and to me is a safe option in that if something goes wrong I can just step off the mower. I have determined to my satisfaction that I can do this. However, if you were to consider a similar solution, please make your own determination about this. Also, I am very careful to make sure that I know every depression, every rock, etc., around the area on the pond bank that I mow. A great example is that muskrats tunnel into the dam under the water level, and this can create a risk of the mower going into the water if the downhill wheel of the mower breaks through the surface of the ground into the muskrat tunnel. In fact, a man I knew died in a drowning accident when he was mowing around the edge of his pond with a rider zero-turn mower, the mower's weight caved in a muskrat tunnel, he and the mower went into the water, and the mower control levers got caught in his belt so he couldn't get free of the mower.

For mowing the vegetation between the water and where I mow with the Wright mower, I use a 6' rotary mower (brush hog) with the tractor and back the mower down the dam perpendicular to the water's edge so that the mower protrudes a little over the water. Again, I am very careful, go slowly, etc., and I do this only about three times a year, just enough to prevent the pond's edge from getting grown up out of control.

I use a 7' sickle mower to mow around the edge of the pond where the bank is not steep.

Hope this helps. Above all, I emphasize that I resolve all doubts in favor of being safe. If my Wright mower ever gets in danger of going into the water, I will for sure let it go without me.

 

[ericm979]

A ditch bank flail mower is made for this sort of thing. They're significantly less expensive than a boom mower.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I use a NH451 sickle mower, you can mow right under water with it, so it works great for cattails ect...

SR

 

[sandman2234]

Self-powered mower and a side boom to tow it. (found photos-not me)

Maybe use an old riding mower with a bad transmission as the towed mower.

Bruce

I have considered a mower much like the one pictured, but don't think the water would take to it very well, but if I built a bracket across the loader so that I could hold it slightly above the water level, it might work.
I remember seeing an ad with a hydraulic powered mower bolted to a FEL, that might work, if I can't get my batwing to do the job.
Today I took the Kubota and backed into the water, many, many times. That knocked down a lot of it, but I am afraid some that I pushed over as I backed in will be standing back up in a day or two.
The comments are helping, thanks and keep them coming!
David from jax

 

[Rara Avis]

Ditch mowers are made for this job...

 

[Creamer]

I use a 7' sickle mower to mow around the edge of the pond where the bank is not steep.

Why not mow with a sickle bar where it is steep? The sickle adapts. If you use a trailer type mower there is not the sideweight on your tractor either like on a 3 pt hitch mower.

Here is link to my mower on a pond bank. Pond Edge Trimming - YouTube
Pond Edge Trimming 2 - YouTube
The first video shows a steep pond bank but the tractor is level. On the second video you can see it is pretty steep side slope for the tractor and mower. This is when I appreciate the trailer type mower.

 

[sandman2234]

Why not mow with a sickle bar where it is steep? The sickle adapts. If you use a trailer type mower there is not the sideweight on your tractor either like on a 3 pt hitch mower.

Here is link to my mower on a pond bank. Pond Edge Trimming - YouTube
Pond Edge Trimming 2 - YouTube
The first video shows a steep pond bank but the tractor is level. On the second video you can see it is pretty steep side slope for the tractor and mower. This is when I appreciate the trailer type mower.

I appreciate your efforts at posting those videos, it looks like a sickle bar mower might do the trick, all except for the type of growth along this pond. The growth includes a small tree(ish) looking bush that seems to love growing right along the pond edge. In a year it can grow to a to an inch and a half or more, which might (from my experience) be a little much for a sickle mower.
As far as mowing where it is steep, my two wheel drive tractor will not stay on the slopes I do attempt, and some I won't even attempt due to drive on due to my seat not wanting to stay on the tractor. The 4wd Kubota is better at it, but it tends to just tear up the grass on the hill, which adds to the erosion problem that we are fighting. I have tried an Allis B and C for these slopes also, but at the time the erosion was at its worse and they didn't like it.
I have a sickle bar mower for an Allis B that I might try to resurrect out of the boneyard, and put it on a tractor. Just don't know much about how they work, and don't want to throw more money down the drain. If an Allis B gets stuck, it can easily be pulled out, so that is a good thing.
Thanks, David from jax

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have more than one sickle mower... ONLY my NH451 will cut right through 1" brush and keep on going, without raising cane with the teeth ect...

I even made a "bolt on" bar for the 451, to hold it in the upright position. I use it to cut the new growth back, along my lanes ect...

SR

 

[Creamer]

I am not sure what kind of tree that you have growing that gets to 1.5" in a year but my bet is that it is softwood. I did not get a video of it but I did cut down some up to 3" diameter cottonwood saplings that were 15' or so tall with the sickle bar without stopping (I can't stop since I do not have a live PTO) I just had it in a low gear to give them some time and they toppled them just like tall grass.

I also like Rob mentioned chain my bar up to almost vertical and slice the fenceline bushes going down my quarter of a mile long driveway. Again going slow and giving it time to chew as needed.

An older sickle bar with a pitman stick will work but it does not have the vertical angle range that pitmanless has. that is why I have a 455 New Holland. I also have the older mower guards not the newer slimmer hay guards on the bar as the old mower guards are tougher for going through saplings and other trash. I also use my mower to go along tree lines and cut back under the bushes to keep them from encroaching on fields. So it is cutting >1" stuff all the time including hardwoods.

As for costs - I found this one for $300 but I had also found one in a little better shape and a little newer for $400. I took the older one because it had the mower guards and was 5 miles away versus 130. The trailer types are much cheaper. They are just unwanted by the ag community anymore.

 

[Roger Norton]

I mow about 10 acres up at the church, which has a pond on it. The banks at some points are extremely steep, too steep for me to drive on. On the parts I can drive on, I used to mow it with a six foot mower behind a JD2555 but because of the wheel tracks having to be right at the edge of the pond, two wheel drive and not so good of brakes, I often got stuck in the edge of the pond.
I purchased a 15 foot batwing, but only have two remotes, so I built a "T" to allow me to hook both wings up. The wing running along the water edge has the tire over the edge, and isn't doing a great job. Basically I still can't get far enough out to cut everything. Kind of dis-heartening! While the batwing got closer, I thought it would do better.
How do you guys cut around ponds, short of buying a complete offset boom mower?
David from jax

I use a handheld strimmer/brushcutter - my pond's about 0.1 Ha (1/4 of a acre), and has flat-topped 1 (vertical) : 2 (horizontal) berms on all sides - so would require a mower on an arm, which would be pricey and might have power and hydraulics requirement my tractor couldn't meet. It takes me 3-6 hours to cut all the banks.

 

[Tennsawdust]

I have considered a mower much like the one pictured, but don't think the water would take to it very well, but if I built a bracket across the loader so that I could hold it slightly above the water level, it might work.
I remember seeing an ad with a hydraulic powered mower bolted to a FEL, that might work, if I can't get my batwing to do the job.
Today I took the Kubota and backed into the water, many, many times. That knocked down a lot of it, but I am afraid some that I pushed over as I backed in will be standing back up in a day or two.
The comments are helping, thanks and keep them coming!
David from jax

I've considered something similar myself. I used to know a fellow that had one he built from the deck and engine of a derelict riding mower. The frame was built from some square tube and a carry-all frame he had laying around. It seemed to work well enough.

 

[m5040]

this guy built his own

Homebuilt Hydraulic Offset Mower - No PTO - YouTube

 

[rbtjr]

Creamer asked: "Why not mow with a sickle bar where it is steep? The sickle adapts. If you use a trailer type mower there is not the sideweight on your tractor either like on a 3 pt hitch mower."


Answer: Because the distance of the slope on the dam from level ground at the top of the dam to the water is probably close to 20'. If I kept the tractor on the level ground on the top of the dam, where the slope down to the water starts, and angled the sickle mower down the slope, the end of the sickle mower would be nowhere near the water. Conversely, if I ran the tractor low enough on the dam for the 7' sickle mower to reach the water or close to it, the entire tractor would be on the slope. I don't want to operate the tractor on such a steep slope, especially with the weight of the sickle mower on the downhill side. I do operate the sickle mower angled at various degrees in some situations. For example, I use the sickle mower straight up--i.e., at 90 degrees up--to mow the sides of trails. And I use the sickle mower to mow down some short banks with the tractor on level ground next to the downward slope. Just can't do it on the dam.